30 Day OTP Challenge (My Version)
by Silver Hyacinth
Summary: This is my version of the 30 Day OTP Challenge - Day 1: First date. Natsu smiled to himself as he took off his coat, and he fell asleep clutching the snowflake charm Gray had given him, replaying his words. "Now everyone will know that you're mine, and only mine."
1. Day 1

So this is a little 30 chapter story, kinda like the 30 Day OTP Challenge, only this is something I created, so it will be a bit different than the actual challenge. Anyway, check it out on my forum, and day one is 'First date'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** First date.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu (My OTP, obviously.)

* * *

Natsu adjusted his scarf in the mirror for the hundredth time, taking a deep, nervous breath. Gray would be there any second, and Natsu wasn't really sure if he was actually ready for this. He'd liked the Ice Mage for a while, and going on a date with him was a dream come true, but that didn't stop nervous butterflies from rising in Natsu's stomach or stop his hands from shaking as he fiddled with the fabric once again.

A knock at the door made Natsu jump, and he locked eyes with himself in the mirror and smoothed down his hair and clothes once before rushing to answer it. Gray stood there, his hands hidden in the deep pockets of his jacket. The two smiled nervously at each other as Natsu shut the door, and the two headed for the park. Despite his scarf and jacket, Natsu shivered, and Gray almost imperceptibly moved closer to him, making the Dragon Slayer shiver even more, only with excitement instead of cold this time.

When they arrived at the gates of the park, they walked down the sidewalk, admiring the snow on the ground, which made the trees appear as if they were dripping in diamonds and quartz crystals, glittering brightly under the sun's lazy gray light. They stopped briefly at a bench as Gray excused himself for a moment, leaving Natsu shivering and wondering where the Ice Mage had gone, feeling a tiny bit scared that he was being abandoned, and on their first date, to make matters worse.

After a minute Natsu noticed a few girls blushing and giggling, shooting glances at him from across the park. Natsu shifted uncomfortably, his scarf suddenly itchy around his neck. When Gray got back, he didn't tell Natsu where he'd gone, only that he had a surprise saved for him for later. Gray noticed Natsu's uncomfortably glances towards the girls as they got up and started walking, and with a smirk the Ice Mage wrapped an arm around his back, sticking his hand in Natsu's coat pocket. The girls blushed and turned away quickly, and Natsu's own face heated up, his heart beating like the wings of a frantic dragonfly in his chest.

The pair walked to a cafe where they ordered hot chocolate and muffins, claiming a table in the corner. Natsu slowly warmed up to Gray's company and shook himself of his nerves. The two laughed and the conversation flowed easily between them as the date progressed, and Natsu laughed at his earlier nervousness and insecurity. He was having a great time, and he could tell Gray was, too.

After they'd finished their muffins and cocoa, they walked down the street, checking out the many different market stalls. Eventually they found their way back to the park, and Gray led Natsu to a frozen fountain, and they sat on the edge. Gray pulled something from his pocket, and he smiled as he handed it to Natsu. It was a tiny silver snowflake on a chain, and Natsu was shocked. "Is this what you went to get earlier?"

Gray nodded and took it from Natsu, clasping it around the Dragon Slayer's neck. "Now everyone will know," Gray said, smirking. Natsu fiddled with the snowflake charm nervously. "Know what?"

"That you're mine, and only mine."

Natsu blushed and glanced over at Gray through his eyelashes. Natsu's hand was resting on the bench, and Gray placed his own over it as he leaned forward. Natsu closed his eyes as their lips met. It began to snow, and when they pulled away from each other, both of them had snowflakes stuck in their hair. Gray smiled and stood, offering Natsu a hand. He helped the other boy up and they held hands all the way back to Natsu's place.

There was a long goodbye, which involved much kissing, and when Natsu finally pulled himself away and closed the door, he was breathless, his cheeks red from the cold. Natsu smiled to himself as he took off his coat, and he fell asleep clutching the snowflake charm Gray had given him, replaying his words. _Now everyone will know that you're mine, and only mine._


	2. Day 2

Day two of my 30 Day OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Kissing' XD Enjoy, guys!

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Kissing

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu walked into the guild tired and pissed off. He had been up all night because some animal or something was outside his house and would knock or claw on the windows and doors, but when Natsu went to go see what it was, there was nothing there, and Gray wouldn't wake up no matter how much Natsu shook his shoulder. Let's just say he was losing his mind, and if someone challenged him to a fight at any time, he'd probably snap and kill them. Plus it was winter. Natsu hated winter...

Gray walked in few seconds behind Natsu, yawning and generally not giving any shits.

"Natsu, Gray, stop right there!"

Natsu stopped in surprise as Mira frantically held up her hands, and Gray ran straight into his back. Mira practically leaped out from behind the bar and ran up to them, a devilish smirk on her face. Slowly, she raised a finger to point at the space directly above the door. Natsu and Gray's eyes slowly turned and traveled to where her finger was pointing, and they both turned red.

There, above the door, was a tuft of mistletoe, tied up in a pretty red bow.

"You two have to kiss," Mira said, crossing her arms. Natsu and Gray met each other's eyes, then looked towards Mira. They were about to inform her that no way would they be kissing in front of everyone when they noticed the smile and the evil look in her eyes that clearly said, _Take a_ single step _away from the door and I. Will. End. You._ The boys gulped and turned to face each other.

Of course, they were dating, but nobody at the guild knew that. They made sure to act exactly as they had before, and even threw in a little more hostility now and then to keep up appearances. It's not that they didn't love and trust that their friends would be accepting, they were just... not ready to share the news yet.

Gray shrugged. "What can we do? There's no choice."

Natsu gulped and nodded reluctantly. The two took a few steps closer to each other, and Gray took Natsu by the shoulders. Natsu took a deep breath, those familiar butterflies rising up in his chest whenever he was close to the Ice Mage. Gray leaned his head forward slightly and Natsu closed his eyes, gutting his chin forward to breach the gap between them. Gray's lips were pleasantly cool, as they always were, and left faint traces of mint on Natsu's own lips when he pulled away seconds later.

"There," Gray said to a squealing Mira, releasing Natsu's shoulders and carrying on his way to the bar as if nothing had happened. Mira turned her eyes to Natsu, expecting a reaction, but the Dragon Slayer simply walked over to a table and sat down, looking as if everything was normal. Secretly, though, Natsu was counting the moments until the day ended so he could go and meet Gray like he did every day.

The day was endless, and Natsu was restless the entire day, jumping out of his chair as the sun set and bursting through the doors, closely followed by Gray about a minute later. The two walked different ways to get to Natsu's place, and Natsu got there first, leaning against the hollow of the door frame and blowing on his hands to keep them warm.

A figure melted out of the chilled shadows and hands rested themselves against the door on either side of Natsu's head, caging him in. Gray's kisses were hungry, but Natsu was equally as hungry, and the two seemed to leak nutrients off each other. When Gray finally pulled away, the two boys were breathless, and Natsu's fingers were red from the cold as he fumbled with the lock on the door. Inside, the house was dark, and when Natsu flipped on the light, his mouth formed a small O at what he saw.

Mistletoe was taped to the ceiling every few feet.

Gray kicked off his snowy shoes and slid out of his coat, shivering as the heat hit him. Noticing Natsu's 'What the hell' expression, Gray's eyes trailed up to the ceiling. "Did you do this?"

"Did _you_?" Natsu retorted. "Because I didn't."

Gray grinned. "I didn't, but..." he seized the ends of Natsu's scarf and tugged the Dragon Slayer forward. "I better thank whoever did."

This kiss was slower and Natsu melted into it. As Gray scooped him up and followed the trail of mistletoe, Natsu silently thanked the mysterious placer of mistletoe for all the kisses that followed him up the stairs,


	3. Day 3

Day three of my OTP Challenge, and the theme is: Piggy-back rides! Enjoy, guys :D (This one was short but sweet.)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Piggy-back rides.

 **Pairings:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu was exhausted. He and Gray were sitting on the ground leaned up against a brick wall, panting. They had just completed a job and were absolutely dead on their feet, Natsu more so than Gray. The job was to defeat a dark guild, and Natsu had used too much of his magic, since Gray had been preoccupied fighting another group of the members while Natsu took on the majority.

"Graaaaayyyyy," Natsu moaned, leaning heavily on the Ice Mage's shoulder, making the raven-haired boy narrow his eyes in annoyance.

"What?"

"Caaarrrryyyy meeeee."

"What? No!"

"Pppppllllleeeaaasssseeee!" Natsu whined, pouting and giving Gray puppy-dog eyes. The Ice Mage shook his head, but he was starting to falter. Sensing that he was about to get his way, Natsu clasped his hands together and went in for one more long, "Ppppplllllleeeeeaaaasssseee!"

Gray sighed. "Okay, fine."

Natsu cheered as Gray stood up and bent down. "Get on," he ordered, and Natsu happily hopped on his back, wrapping his arms around Gray's neck and squeezing the other boy's hips tightly between his legs to ensure he wouldn't fall off. Gray started walking back towards Magnolia, Natsu's scarf tickling the back of his neck and the Dragon Slayer's head resting on top of his.

By the time they reached Gray's place, Natsu was fast asleep. Gray kicked open the door as quietly as possible, plodding down the hall to his room. He dumped Natsu on the bed and fell back across the Dragon Slayer's chest, closing his eyes. He was asleep within minutes, exhausted from the piggy-back ride. While the boys slept, they curled into each other, Gray eventually wrapping his arms around Natsu's chest while Natsu held on to the Ice Mage's waist, and they slept soundly through the rest of the day.


	4. Day 4

Day four of my OTP Challenge, and the theme is 'getting a tattoo'! (Again, a fairly short one, but I loved the ending so much :3)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Getting a tattoo.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"I'm not so sure abut this anymore..." Natsu said, gulping as the man cleaned off the needle he would be using soon.

Gray squeezed his hand. "C'mon, I got mine, now it's your turn. And this was your idea in the first place, remember?"

Natsu said nothing, only whimpering slightly as the man placed the image on the table where he could see it, pulling out a bottle of navy blue ink, which Natsu had picked out earlier. Gray winced as the bones in his hand cracked. "Ease up a bit, will you."

"Shut up, Gray. You squeezed just as hard getting yours, so don't you judge me!"

Gray raised his eyebrows at Natsu's panicked tone, but said nothing more about the hand-breaking. Natsu took deep breaths, squeezing his eyes shut as the man lowered the needle to his chest and started the tattoo. After a minute, Natsu opened his right eye, peering over at Gray. "When is it going to start? I want a fair warning!"

Gray gaped at him. " _Start_? He's been tattooing you for three minutes!"

"What?" Natsu jerked his head around and looked to the man, who was trying not to roll his eyes as he sketched out the tattoo. "Huh," Natsu said. "Look at that. I don't even feel it."

Gray, slightly annoyed, said, "My hand sure as hell feels it!"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Natsu eased up his grip and Gray sighed.

"It's not fair," he muttered, pursing his lips and pouting. "It's like you're immune to pain."

Natsu shrugged, grinning at his boyfriend's irritated expression. "Well I sure feel it at home when you-"

"Hey!" the tattoo man interrupted, holding up his free hand. "Keep the commentary to a minimum."

Natsu grinned and Gray face-palmed with his free hand, his face slightly red. Natsu looked around the tattoo parlor, eventually resorting to a thumb-war with Gray to keep himself from fidgeting. Gray won, of course, but that still didn't dull the fact that Natsu was fit as a fiddle and in no pain while - and Gray was ashamed of this - it'd hurt like a bitch when he got his.

When the man was done, Natsu squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look. "Is it good?"

Gray nodded, whistling in appreciation. Natsu opened one eye and reluctantly looked down. "Wow!" he exclaimed, jumping up and holding a hand to the tattoo.

"Hey!" the man yelled. "Don't touch it, numbskull!"

"Oops! Sorry!" Natsu jerked his hands to his side, but he turned to Gray grinning. "It's so awesome!"

Gray nodded, smirking in amusement at Natsu's child-like antics. But the tattoo really was good: A six-sided snowflake, intricately inked with swirls and curves, in a beautiful dark blue. After they had payed, they had to walk back to Gray's place with their shirts off, seeing as how their tattoos had to settle. They held hands the entire way, admiring each other's tattoos. Gray had an intricate orange lick of flames on his chest, and when they stood side by side, the tattoos seemed to hug each other.

Later that night, lying in bed beside each other, Natsu brushed a hand against Gray's tattoo and whispered, "Mine." into the dark. Gray rested a hand on Natsu's tattoo, smiling to himself.

"Mine," he said, his eyes still closed.


	5. Day 5

Day five of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Gaming together'!

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Gaming together.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"UGH! **_SHOOT_ ** HIM! HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, FUCKING **_SHOOT HIM_**! YOU IDIOT! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER BEFORE WE LOSE!" Gray shouted into his headset, angrily clicking buttons on his controller, attempting to save the asses of his teammates, who weren't hauling even half their own weight.

"GET HIM, HE'S GAINING! BLOW HIS DAMN HEAD OFF, GAJEEL! NOW! I SAID BLOW H- SHIT! COVER ME!" Natsu yelled equally as loud. He was playing on the other team, and Gray was now slowly picking off his teammates. Lucy, Gajeel, Bixlow, and Laxus - Natsu's team - started scrambling around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to find hiding places before Gray could snipe them.

"GAJEEL, come _ON_! Laxus, I need _COVER_! You're all a bunch of CHICKENSHITS! We _NEED_ to ** _SNIPE HIM_**. It's kill or be killed! _ **KILL OR BE KILLED**_!"

"IF YOU ALL DON'T START HAULING ASS OVER HERE TO HELP ME, I'LL TAKE YOU ALL OUT MYSELF!" Gray yelled at his team, furiously pounding on the buttons of his controller.

With a blast of gunfire, Gray took out Laxus and Bixlow, and Elfman, who had finally gotten his shit together, took out Lucy and Gajeel. "IT'S DOWN TO ONE!" Gray shouted, dodging a volley of Lucy's last bullets before despawning. "TAKE HIM OUT!"

"NOT TODAY!" Natsu crowed, sniping Elfman. Jet, Droy, and Mira were soon gone as well, leaving Gray and Natsu alone. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

"JUST TRY IT!"

With a bounding leap from the top of the building, Natsu's character shot Gray's through the head. "OOOOHHHHH!" Natsu yelled, throwing down his controller and dancing around the living room. "360 NO-SCOPE! BOOOOOM, BITCH! GET ON MY LEVEL!"

Gray sighed, irritated. "That was a lucky shot."

"Lucky my ass! That was **_AWESOME_ ** is what that was!"

Gray rolled his eyes at Natsu's ridiculous victory dance. "Tone it down a little, will you?"

"FUCK NO! You'll never live this down!"

"I know," Gray muttered, sighing.

Natsu launched over the back of the couch and did a somersault across the cushions, landing on his feet in front of the TV and falling backwards onto the couch. "Ah. Victory tastes so sweet."

"Yeah, yeah," Gray muttered, feeling a little depressed now. Gray was constantly reminded of the fact that his boyfriend was a better gamer, and it was getting a little embarrassing on Gray's part. "Awww," Natsu said, scooting closer and trying to wrap an arm around Gray, who held him back with his legs and arms as Natsu wrestled on top of him. "Is somebody a sore loser?"

"You're one to talk!" Gray yelled back, struggling to throw Natsu off him. He wedged up his feet on the sakura-haired boy's stomach, attempting to kick him off, but it didn't work, of course. Natsu finally wrestled Gray's arms to his sides and grinned down at him. Gray was panting from the effort and extremely pissed off.

"You could be a little less of an asshole when you win," Gray muttered, pouting angrily. Natsu smiled. "You like it when I'm an asshole when I win."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do not."

"Do too. Dammit!"

Natsu smirked and leaned his face closer to Gray's. "You like it when I'm an asshole," he said in a sing-song voice, teasing his raven-haired boyfriend.

"Hmph," was all Gray responded with, glancing to the side.

Natsu spared one hand to wrench Gray's chin around. "You know you like it."

"FINE!" Gray exploded, glaring at Natsu. "It's hot, okay! I fucking hate you."

Natsu smiled. "That's all I wanted to hear." He leaned forward and kissed Gray, and after a while he responded by wrapping his arms around Natsu's waist.

"Um," a tiny voice called from the headset as the sound of the couch creaking could be heard across the line, "you know we're still here, right?"


	6. Day 6

Day six of my OTP Challenge, and today's them is 'Late-night trip to the store'! XD

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Latenight trip to the store.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Gray, we're out of chips and Skittles."

"And?" Gray asked from his place on the couch, not bothering to open his eyes.

" _And_ I want some Skittles!"

"Natsu, it's two in the morning. What do you expect me to do?"

"This is one of those 'emergency trip to the grocery store at two A.M., and only one of us gets to sit in the cart' scenarios, Gray."

The raven-haired boy sat up, already pulling on a shirt. "Oh, it's _so_ gonna be me," he challenged.

"You're on," Natsu retorted, grinning.

Gray grabbed his keys and they drove his blue pickup to the nearest Walmart. As soon as they pulled into the near empty parking lot, they both practically leaped from the car and took off sprinting at full-speed towards the sliding glass doors and the carts that waited beyond. Gray made it a few seconds before Natsu and somersaulted into the cart, yelling in triumph.

Natsu rolled his eyes, pushing the cart forward in defeat. The tired greeter gave them a strange look as Natsu wheeled Gray towards the junk food section, but they were having too much fun to notice or care. "Get sour cream and onion," Natsu said as Gray started swiping bags of chips and they rolled by. "I got 'em already. Grab some apple-"

"-juice," Natsu finished for him. "Already got it. "Grab some-"

"I know, I know; Mr. Goodbars."

They continued down the aisle until their cart was satisfyingly full of soda, chips, and candy, and they headed for the checkout. The girl there started ringing up their stuff and handing the bags to Gray, who was still in the cart. Natsu heard a few snorts and he took a running start and hopped on the cart bottom, riding it like a scooter to the door. Gray was bent over with laughter in the cart as they sped to the car, almost crashing straight into it.

They tossed the bags in the back, parked the cart on the curb, and drove back home, singing along to Adele's "Hello" at the top of their voices. By the time they got back, Natsu was in the mood for a marathon of TWD, so Gray opened up Netflix while Natsu poured chips and candy into huge bowls and soda into equally huge cups, bringing all of it over to the couch and setting it out on the coffee-table.

Gray had a blanket spread across his legs, and he pulled it back to make room for Natsu, who slithered over the armrest and lay curled up on his side, his head resting in the crook of Gray's arm. Gray clicked on the first episode, grabbed a bowl of candy, dumped it in a bowl of chips, and set that bowl on the couch in the depression their bodies made.

"We're not gonna sleep for days," Natsu said, taking a handful of Skittles. Gray nodded, tightening his arm around Natsu. "Yeah, but at least we'll have good food the whole time."

"That's so contradictory..." Natsu said, his forehead wrinkling.

"Shhhhhhhhhh," Gray said, placing a hand over his mouth and gazing at the screen. "Don't speak."

So they lay like that the rest of the night, propped against each other sharing a bowl of junk food, completely content to stay like that forever.


	7. Day 7

Day seven of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Apologies'! (Short, but still. SO. CUTE. :3) Also, sorry for posting this today guys. I totally spaced yesterday :p. Rest assured I will post day eight today as well, so sorry for the delay.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Apologies.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"C'mon, Natsu, I said I was sorry."

The sakura-haired Dragon Slayer said nothing, eating a piece of bacon silently and completely ignoring Gray's words. Gray sighed loudly. They'd gotten into a fight and said some things that they both regretted, but Gray knew he had gone a step too far by insulting Igneel. He felt terrible about it, but Natsu wouldn't even acknowledge Gray's presence, let alone accept his apology.

Although, Natsu had torn his pendant, and Gray had been so angry at the time that he had acted in the heat of the moment. But necklaces could be fixed, and words could never be taken back.

And Gray had no idea how to explain to Natsu exactly how sorry he was. And he was so sorry... Words couldn't explain how sick he felt for saying what he'd said. For seeing Natsu's face contort with anger and sadness. Gray shivered reliving the moment and closed his eyes for a second, taking deep breaths to stop himself from breaking down right then and there in front of all his guild-mates.

For the rest of the day Gray felt as if he were dancing on eggshells. Natsu didn't accompany Gray home, and the Ice Mage sighed loudly and went to his house, his head down. He felt like hell. Worse than hell. He just couldn't figure out a way to explain to Natsu how sorry he was.

But he was starting to develop an idea.

* * *

 **About ten minutes later...**

* * *

Natsu opened the door to see Gray standing there, literally on his knees, his forehead against the ground. "I'm sorry!" he yelled at the ground. Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be your servant for six months! I'll cook you tons of food and- and I'll let you have all the money from the jobs we do. I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

"Uhhh..."

"I'LL NAME OUR FIRSTBORN IGNEEL!"

Natsu stared down at him for a few seconds, utterly silent. Then he burst into violent, loud laughter, bent over with his hands on his knees. Gray glanced up at him, sat back on his heels, and looked at Natsu, confused. The Fire Dragon Slayer was gasping for air. Eventually he gasped out, "Just- please just stand up."

Gray complied, his hands twisted together nervously. "Do- Do you forgive me?"

"Y-Yes," Natsu gasped out, still trying to compose himself. "I f-forgive you."

"THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU, NATSU!" Gray hugged his boyfriend around the middle, making Natsu laugh again. He ran his fingers through Gray's hair, attempting to sooth the now crying Ice Mage.

"You don't have to do any of that-"

"But I will! I need to make this up to you somehow."

"Well," Natsu conceded, smiling slightly. "I guess naming our firstborn Igneel isn't such a bad thing."

Gray nodded against his chest. "Of course. I was kind of thinking that before anyway."

Natsu grinned. "Were you?" He hugged Gray tightly and rubbed his back in soothing circles. "Don't worry," he whispered. "Apology accepted."


	8. Day 8

Day eight of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Fighting side by side' :D

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Fighting side by side.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"You ready, Natsu?" Gray asked, grinning.

"You know it," Natsu replied, standing back to back with the Ice Mage.

"You take the right, I'll take the left?"

"Sounds good."

They were facing off against a dark guild. The job seemed fairly easy, and the reward was good, so Gray and Natsu had gone by themselves. They were right, of course. The dark guild wasn't very formidable. Their master didn't even look that strong.

Gray raised his two hands and placed them together, an ice blue Magic Circle appearing above his hands. "Ice-Make: Lance!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

With their joint attacks, a large chunk of the guild was swept off their feet. "D-Demons!" someone yelled. Natsu grinned. "Wrong. _Dragons_."

"You guys ready for a beating?"

"RUN!"

"THESE GUYS ARE INSANE!"

"Ah ah ah," Gray said, placing his hands together once again. "Not so fast. Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow!"

"Fire Dragon King Mode!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Natsu wiped the back of his forehead, his back against a wall and his legs spread out in front of him. Gray was beside him, taking deep breaths. "That took longer than I thought it would."

Natsu shrugged. "At least we got the job done."

Gray sighed. "Yeah. Want to go get some lunch?"

"Fuck yeah."


	9. Day 9

Day eight of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'In danger'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** In danger.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Natsu, get out of there!" Gray yelled, his eyes wide. He was trying to fight off two men while keeping an eye on Natsu at the same time. Gray's face paled as he saw Natsu struggling to fend off the men he was fighting, and his mind flashed back to five minutes earlier.

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"I can't believe Lucy let us keep all the job money," Natsu said for the thritieth time, grinning from ear to ear. "It's so unlike her!"

"Well," Gray said, smiling, "she did get a load of money from her interview with Sorcerer Weekly, so she probably has more than enough to pay her rent now."

Natsu shrugged. "Yeah. And feeling gener- Ah!"

Gray immediately jerked around at the cry of pain to see Natsu struggling with two guys, a knife buried in his side. Gray was immediately furious, horrified, and on edge as he jerked forwards to get the men off Natsu. One had him by the elbow and the other had released the knife to try and grab Natsu around the middle. Gray was reaching for one of them angrily when someone grabbed him from behind and jerked him backwards.

There were two more, Gray realized, and they were after both of them. But Natsu was stabbed, He couldn't last long, no matter how strong he was.

* * *

 **Present**

* * *

And that led to now.

Gray punched one man in the face, knocking him out, and side-kicked the other, knocking him back into a wall. Gray turned and saw Natsu huffing, attempting to fend off the one attacker left, the other on the ground. Gray immediately ran forward, punching the man in the back of the head so hard that he launched ten feet and landed head-first in a wall.

Natsu's face was unusually pale, and when Gray walked closer to him, he noticed that Natsu gave off very little heat. "Are you all right?" Gray asked, holding out a hand but afraid to touch the Dragon Slayer.

"I'm- Fine..." On that last word, Natsu swayed and collapsed. Gray barely managed to catch his boyfriend, crying out in terror.

"N-Natsu?! C-come on, I've got to get you to Wendy."

"O-okay."

* * *

"You idiot," Gray sighed, running a hand roughly through his hair. Natsu was currently asleep back at Gray's house, his side stitched and his face was sweaty and hot with fever. Natsu had been ordered two weeks of bed-rest, and Gray was sure he would've protested if he'd been conscious when given the order.

Gray paced back and forth across the room, worry tearing at him. Wendy had told him that Natsu would be okay, but the Dragon Slayer still hadn't woken up, and Gray was starting to fear he never would. But then Natsu's forehead creased and he opened his eyes, which were blurred with sleep, slowly. "G-Gray?"

"Natsu!" Gray sat on the bed and clutched Natsu's hand tightly. "Are you alright? Do you need anything? Or want anything?"

"No," Natsu murmured, wincing as he changed position on the bed. "Well, actually... Could you just lay with me for a while?"

"Of course, Natsu. Of course I will." Gray pulled the covers back and crawled in next to him, wrapping him arms around the Dragon Slayer, being careful not to brush against his wound by accident. Natsu rested his head in the hollow of Gray's arm, closing his eyes and instantly falling asleep. Gray smiled slightly and closed his eyes, falling asleep with Natsu's heat pressed against him.


	10. Day 10

Day ten of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Fears'!

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Fears.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu woke in the middle of the night with a cold sweat, and sat bolt upright in his bed, gasping for air. Outside, all was still, and Natsu wiped his sweaty forehead irritably, running a hand through his hair. He was just getting up to turn on his fan when a sound boomed outside. Natsu jumped and his head snapped to the window. Outside, it had started raining, rain pounding against the windows like shards of glass. But that's not what Natsu had heard.

Another boom felt like it shook the house, and Natsu felt himself let out a whimper as lightning streaked across the sky. He turned ever so carefully and was just reaching for the edge of the blanket when the loudest boom of all tore through the air, and Natsu shrieked and leaped under his bed, grabbing his phone from the bedside table in the process.

He squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds, fear pulsing through him, his breathing ragged. After a horrifying chorus of thunder and lightning and howling wind, Natsu couldn't stand it anymore. Tears streaming down his face, he picked up his phone and called the first contact he saw.

After a few rings a tired voice said, "Hello?"

"G-Gray," Natsu whimpered into the phone.

"Natsu?" Gray asked, his voice sharpening, immediately alert. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"N-" Another loud crack of thunder cracked through the air like a whip, making Natsu whimper again and pull himself into a tight ball on the floor.

"Natsu," Gray said after a while. "Are you... scared of thunder?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"I'll be right there," Gray said and hung up. Natsu tossed the phone to the side, curling up into a tighter ball and squeezing his eyes shut, shivering and sobbing with fear as thunder tore through the house.

After minutes that felt like hours, cool hands slid under the bed and pulled Natsu out, gentle arms wrapping around him. Natsu responded after a moment, wrapping his arms tightly around Gray and burying his face in the other boy's shirt. Gray murmured soothing things that Natsu really didn't hear, gently stroking the back of his hair and moving down to trace gentle circles on his back.

After a while Natsu grew tired, and Gray scooped him up and set him gently in the bed, turning to go turn on the fan and attempt to drown out the thunder. Natsu caught his sleeve. "P-please d-d-don't g-go."

Gray turned and smoothed Natsu's hair back to kiss his forehead. "I won't. I'm only turning the fan on, okay?"

Natsu nodded and let him go reluctantly, and Gray switched on the fan to full blast. A stroke of quick thinking hit him and he grabbed a pair of headphones from the top of Natsu's dresser. He slid under the covers and plugged the headphones in to his own phone, turning on a playlist of his favorite songs. He met Natsu's eyes and slid the headphones over his ears, watching as Natsu's face slowly calmed. He pulled the sakura-haired boy against his chest, resting his chin on the top of Natsu's head and closing his eyes.

Natsu snuggled against him and they fell asleep like that, the din of the thunder barely audible to Natsu through the sound of Gray's music.


	11. Day 11

Day eleven of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Cuddling' X3 (Again, sorry this was posted late, guys. I was absolutely swamped yesterday, but don't worry; today's will still be put up as well.)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Cuddling.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Gray woke bright and early and swung his legs over the side of the bed, ready to start the day. It was nearing the middle of March, and Gray had decided to officially start his spring cleaning. He started off the day with a big breakfast, and crept back into his bedroom to pick up all the dirty laundry, being extra quiet so as not to wake Natsu.

He was dumping it all in the laundry and on his way to get the duster, mop, and broom from the hall closet when Natsu shuffled in, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He was wearing one of Gray's shirts over his boxers, and the last two and first two buttons were undone, revealing slivers of tan chest underneath.

Gray smiled seeing how cute the Dragon Slayer looked. "You adorable bastard. Get over here."

Natsu blinked at him and shuffled over, yawning again. "What are you talking about?" he asked sleepily. Gray wrapped his arms around the Dragon Slayer. "You should wear my clothes more often," he said in Natsu's ear. "They suit you."

"W-what?" Natsu stuttered, shivers racing up his spine as Gray's breath hit his neck.

After a while the Ice Mage pulled away, leaving a blushing Natsu. "Today spring cleaning is starting, so get your ass in gear!" he exclaimed happily before spinning on his heel and going to fetch the stuff he needed.

"But," Natsu called meekly, "don't I get breakfast first?"

"No," Gray called back cheerfully, rummaging around in the closet. "Go start re-arranging the bookshelf, please."

Natsu sighed, knowing that their was hardly anything he could do to stop Gray when he got determined like this. "Okay."

After a while Natsu started to get bored of looking at nothing but books, and snuck away from the shelf, peering around the corner to see Gray dusting every surface in sight. He crept up behind him and wrapped his arms around the Ice Mage, grabbing the duster. "Can I distract you from cleaning for a while?" Natsu asked with a smile.

"Please do," Gray said immediately, throwing down the duster. "I'm so exhausted..."

Natsu led him over to the couch and lay down across it, patting the space in front of him. Gray sighed and settled down, snuggling closer to Natsu as warm arms wrapped around him. After a while they were both asleep, cuddling, their spring cleaning temporarily forgotten.


	12. Day 12

Day twelve of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Rainy day activities'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World.

 **Theme:** Rainy day activities.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Your move," Gray said with a smirk, sitting back and crossing his arms.

Natsu surveyed the chess board nervously. He had only taken it up recently, and Gray was teaching him. Well, more like insisting on playing a game every day until Natsu finally beat him. Of course, Natsu doubted that would ever happen.

Picking up a piece and placing it on the board, Gray grinned and said, "Checkmate."

Natsu sighed and sat back. "Dammit. I'm never going to win."

"You're probably right," Gray said, beginning to reset the board.

"Hey!"

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth!"

Natsu sighed angrily and crossed his arms, pushing back his chair. "I'm going for a walk."

A sudden boom shook the house, and Natsu gulped, looking out the window. A few clear drops splattered against the glass, and hundreds more followed it, then thousands, turning the splatter into a downpour.

"So much for that walk," Gray said, raising an eyebrow as he got up to put the board away. Natsu sighed and walked into the living room, flopping down on the couch. He hated rain, especially when it was as heavy as this. It usually meant two things; no sunshine and warmth, and no doing anything fun.

After a while Gray padded into the room and knelt in front of Natsu, grinning. "Want to build a pillow fort?"

"Hell yes," Natsu said immediately, leaping to his feet.

They gathered up all the pillows they could and gathered them in a pile in the living room. Natsu shoved the couch back against the far wall and Gray started constructing the walls by using chairs and blankets. Natsu helped him, and after they had finished, they started adding pillows as reinforcement, creating little rooms and such in the fort, until they had themselves a decent little house.

Gray sighed and sat down in the middle, largest room of the fort, and Natsu joined him. They leaned back and surveyed their work, giving the place an approving nod. "I like it," Natsu said, smiling.

"I would like it a whole lot more if we were kissing," Gray said, raising an eyebrow and smiling mischievously.

Natsu rolled his eyes. "You want to make out in a pillow fort in the middle of a downpour?"

"Yes."

Natsu rolled his eyes again but smiled slightly. "Fine."

As Gray trapped Natsu in a cage of limbs, the Dragon Slayer smiled inwardly. Maybe there _were_ some fun things to do in a rainstorm.


	13. Day 13

Day thirteen of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Morning routine'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Morning routine.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Their morning routine was smooth.

Gray was the first up. He yawned, slowly getting out of bed and drifting over to the wardrobe to gather a fresh pair of clothes. He then wandered into the bathroom, turned on the water - cold, of course - and undressed. He was a quick showerer, and was in and out in under ten minutes. After he had dressed, Gray shuffled out into the kitchen, rubbing the remaining sleep from his eyes and trying to be quiet so as not to wake Natsu.

Breakfast was typically simple, seeing as how neither of the boys really had a prowess for cooking or baking anything. (Gray could never cook things thoroughly; Natsu burned everything.) The smell of food would eventually wake Natsu, who would stumble into the shower - hot, of course - and then immediately into the dining room after, where Gray would be setting out the food. He would give the Ice Mage a sleepy kiss, sit down at the table, and inhale his breakfast.

After that, the two did their morning training, which consisted of a six mile run, and a few sparring matches. This usually resorted in a fight over who had won, which was always resolved by lots of kissing and angry words. By then it would be around eight, and Gray would flop down on the couch with a book, Natsu lying on the other end, his feet his Gray's lap while he either slept more or attempted to distract Gray.

By eight thirty, Gray would have given up reading and started his morning stretches, which Natsu usually did as well. After that there were job requests to sort through, things to tidy up around the house, and other little things that took up their time until nine, when they would finally go to the guild, stealing a few (okay, more than a few) kisses before they left the house.

Of course, sometimes Natsu was able to entice Gray back to bed for an extra hour, in which case their morning routine was _not_ very smooth... But neither of them really minded.

Well, let's just change it to this: Their morning routine was _usually_ smooth.


	14. Day 14

Day fourteen of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Competitiveness'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Competitiveness.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"You think you can beat me?" Natsu asked, narrowing his eyes.

Gray smirked. "Obviously."

"You cocky bastard. I'll take you down."

"Wanna put some money where your mouth is?"

"Sure," Natsu said, grinning. "I'll bet two thousand."

"I'll bet _five_ thousand."

"You're on. I'll take the stripes, you take the solids."

They circled the pool table, eyeing each other. Natsu cocked back his pool stick and hit the cue ball. The sound of balls spiraling across the table filled the room, and Natsu smirked as he stepped back. "Your move," he told Gray, eyeing the raven-haired boy.

Gray stepped up to the table and bent over, closing one eye to zero in on his target. "You better not be staring at my ass, flame brain," Gray said, knocking the pool ball dead center. Natsu looked away quickly, clearing his throat. "Don't flatter yourself," Natsu muttered, his face flaming.

"Your move," Gray said, grinning.

Natsu stepped forward and took a deep breath, leveling his stick at the cue ball. He felt Gray's eyes on him and smirked, releasing the stick and hitting the ball. "Who's checking who out now?"

Gray shrugged and stepped forward. "It's not my fault you look so sexy playing pool."

Natsu shrugged in turn. "You got a point there."

Gray rolled his eyes, shooting his pool stick at the cue ball and knocking a solid into the basket.

"You know, you're no slouch yourself," Natsu said, stepping forward with a grin.

* * *

There game continued much into the day, and by the time they were finished, the sun was setting. "I win," Gray said, holding out a hand with a smirk. Natsu pouted. "But... I don't have the money."

"Then you shouldn't have bet," Gray said, _tsk_ - _tsk_ ing and leaning forward so they were nose to nose. "But perhaps you can pay me back another way..."

Natsu blushed and looked away. "Fine."

Gray smirked and tugged Natsu towards the door by his scarf.

And that's how Natsu learned never to bet when playing pool with Gray.


	15. Day 15

Day fifteen of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Karaoke'. XD (Sorry this one was short, guys. Also, I'll still be posting day sixteen, since this was posted late.)

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Karaoke.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Hey, you guys want to hit the karaoke parlor?" Lucy asked, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder and standing.

"Sure," Wendy said, gathering up her things. "Natsu? Gray?"

"I'm in," Gray said, following them towards the door.

"Sounds good," Natsu agreed.

They walked out of the school building, heading towards the street. They turned left, and Wendy jumped on Lucy's back, and the girls laughed as they walked towards the karaoke parlor, weaving back and forth through the crowds of people.

When they entered the karaoke parlor, they got a room in the back and ordered some sodas and fries. Wendy and Lucy stepped up first for a duet, and Gray and Natsu laughed as they picked a girly nineties song. They sang along at the top of their lungs, and when they were done, Gray and Natsu stood.

"I'm picking the song," Gray said immediately.

"No way!" Natsu protested.

They had a glare off, which was resolved by Lucy rolling her eyes and picking one for them. So that's how Gray and Natsu ended up singing along to Jar of Hearts at five o'clock on a Friday.

"Next time you can pick the song," Gray muttered on the way home. Natsu chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea."


	16. Day 16

Today is day sixteen of my OTP Challenge, and the theme is 'Crossover'! XD

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World crossover w/ Noragami

 **Theme:** Crossover.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"This mission is getting on my nerves," Gray said, cracking his knuckles.

"No kidding," Natsu agreed, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

They were on a job up in the mountains, attempting to retrieve a magic artifact from a dark guild. It had been easy at frist. They'd already taken out almost half of the dark mages, and were working their way through the stronghold towards the treasure room, where the master was guarding the artifact.

They were currently hiding in a broom closet, trying to collect their strength before taking on the master and the rest of the guild. Gray was bandaging up a wound on Natsu's arm, while the Dragon Slayer watched the door. "There," Gray said, releasing Natsu's arm. "We should hurry up and finish this. I need this reward money."

Natsu stretched and pulled his scarf tighter around his neck. "Yeah. Let's go."

They crept out the door and into the main area of the stronghold. Gray held two fingers out towards the door they had to break down, and Natsu nodded and rested his back on one side of the door, while Gray took the other. On the count of three, they broke down the doors and stormed the room. It was empty.

"Whaaa..." Natsu straightened and scratched his eyebrow, confused. "Where is everyone?"

The door slammed behind them, stopping Gray's reply. The boys spun around, immediately alert. A man stood in front of the door, holding a mirror against his chest. His face was concealed beneath a long dark cloak, and all that was visible was his mouth. He grinned and flipped the mirror around to face the boys.

They looked into the glass. "What-" Natsu started to say. Before he could finish his sentence, the mirror seemed to form a swirling tunnel of wind. Natsu and Gray were tugged forward, off their feet, and sucked into the mirror.

* * *

"Owwww," Natsu muttered, holding a hand to his forehead and groaning as he pushed himself to a sitting position. "What the- Where am I?" He looked around, blinking to adjust his eyes to the darkness. Suddenly, his memory came rushing back to him.

"Gray? Gray, where are you?!" Natsu asked in a panic, pushing himself to his feet and glancing around wildly for Gray. He relaxed when he saw the raven-haired boy struggling to a sitting position, holding a hand to his temple and muttering curses under his breath. "Where the hell are we?"

Natsu shrugged, leaning down to help Gray stand. "No idea. That guy just sucked us into that mirror."

"Oh yeah," Gray said, cracking his neck to the side. "God, that hurt."

"Yato, we can't just hide in an alleyway! They'll definitely see us!"

Natsu and Gray turned to see a girl and a boy hurrying towards them. The boy held a sword, and Natsu and Gray immediately held up their fists, ready for a fight. The boy and girl stopped, and the four stood and looked at each other for several silent seconds. "They- They can see us," the girl said, looking confused.

"Obviously," Gray scoffed. "Who are you people, and where are we?"

The boy - Yato, presumably - raised an eyebrow, lowering his sword. "Revert, Yukine." In a flash of white, a blonde boy appeared, wearing a green coat and cargo pants. Gray and Natsu blinked, looked at each other, blinked again, and looked back at the strangers. "What kind of magic turns swords into people?" Natsu murmured, frowning.

"Um... Magic?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Duh, magic," Gray said, annoyed. "Now hurry up and tell us where we are."

"Um, this is Japan..."

"Ja-pan?" Natsu asked, confused. "What's that?"

The girl looked at them strangely. "What are you talking about? You're not from here, are you?"

Natsu shook his head. "No. We got transported here through a mirror portal of some kind."

"Well," the blonde boy said with a sigh, "that's a new one."


	17. Day 17

Day seventeen of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Christmas'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Christmas.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"I don't care if it's Christmas," Natsu growled, burrowing deeper under the blankets as Gray tried to pull them off him. "I am not getting up at six in the morning!"

"But Natssssuuuu," Gray whined, flopping down on the bed beside him and pulling up the blanket to peer inside. "It's CHRISTMAS!"

"We've established that," Natsu said, annoyed. He already hated the cold, and a holiday that celebrated it wasn't his favorite. However, with Natsu's luck, it turned out to be his boyfriend's. Of course.

"Natsu, c'mon. I made breakfast."

Natsu let out a loud sigh, knowing that there was nothing he could do when Gray got like this. "Fine."

As Gray cheered, Natsu pulled himself out of bed and let his boyfriend drag him into the kitchen, where the kitchen table was laden with eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes shaped like Christmas trees.

"Jesus," Natsu said, his eyes wide as he sat down. "When did you get up to have time to make all this?"

Gray shrugged. "What can I say. I really like Christmas."

They ate breakfast, and Natsu attempted to wake up. It didn't take long, considering Gray was prattling on and on like an excited child. Natsu had to admit, though, that Gray was adorable when he got all excited, and today was probably the most excited he'd ever been.

"Let's open presents now!"

"But it's morning," Natsu pointed out as Gray drug him towards the living room.

"So? We get more time to enjoy them!"

Natsu rolled his eyes and laughed. "Okay, Gray."

Gray pulled Natsu down and they knelt in front of the tree. Gray started dolling out presents, and Natsu watched him with an adoring smile on his face. The presents were plentiful, and while Natsu enjoyed opening them, Gray was considerably more excited, and by the time they were finished, wrapping paper littered the floor, and Gray had bows stuck in his hair.

Natsu - from where he was sitting on the couch - hugged the Ice Mage to his chest. Gray sat on the floor, his back to Natsu, and Natsu started carefully untangling the bows, being careful so as not to hurt Gray. When he was finished, he kissed his head and said, "Merry Christmas, Gray."

"Merry Christmas, Natsu."


	18. Day 18

Day eighteen of my OTP Challenge is officially here, and today's theme is 'Gender-bent'! (XD OMG, no.)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World.

 **Theme:** Gender-bent.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Oi, Natsuko! Get your lazy ass up! It's time to leave for the mission!"

"Nooooo," Natsuko whined, pulling the blankets back over her head.

Grace put her hands on her hips, annoyed. "Natsuko, I swear to God... You do this every morning!"

"Because I'm tiiirrreeeed."

Grace sighed irritably. "If you're not up in the next five minutes, I'm leaving without you."

"You're so meeeeaaaan," Natsuko whined, poking her head over the edge of the covers, her sakura pink hair spilling over on to the pillow.

Grace rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't be so mean if you got up _on time_ once in a while!"

Natsuko huffed angrily and threw the covers off onto Grace. "Fine. I'm up."

"Good," Grace said, satisfied. "Want me to help dress you?" she added, raising an eyebrow and grinning mischievously.

"I'm a grown woman!" Natsuko said, her face beet red as she pushed Grace towards the door.

"You're eighteen!" Grace corrected before the door was shut in her face.

Natsuko puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as she gathered her clothes from the closet. "Stupid icy stripper," she muttered, glaring at the floor as she dressed. "Idiotic snow-cone."

"Heard that!" Grace called through the door as she walked down the hallway.

"Hmph," Natsuko pouted, tightening her scarf around her neck. Her girlfriend was such a bitch sometimes...


	19. Day 19

Day nineteen of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Children'! (So sorry this was two days late, guys! I was swamped with work, but don't worry; I'll try to have all three or at least two up today, and if I don't, I'll post all of them (including tomorrow's theme) tomorrow.)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Children.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Yuki, stop picking at your food!. Ur, leave Sakura alone or I'll- Ugh, stop eating the flames from the stove, Igneel, and Natsu: _stop encouraging him_!" Gray was ragged from all his stressed yelling and pacing about attempting to contain the four balls of energy that were his and Natsu's children. So far it wasn't doing much good.

"Papa, papa!" Yuki said, tugging on Gray's leg. "Can I have strawberry cake now?"

Gray bent down and scooped her up. "Did you eat your food?"

The little girl nodded, and Gray smiled at her. "Sure, honey. I'll get you some, so sit down at the table, okay?"

Yuki nodded again and ran back to the table, pulling herself onto her chair. Gray smiled as he walked into the kitchen to get the cake. He could still remember the day Igneel, their first child, was born.

* * *

"GRAY, GRAY, GRAY, GRAY, GUESS WHAT, GUESS WHAT, GUESS WHAT!" Natsu shouted, bouncing up and down on the edge of their bed at two A.M. on a warm September morning.

Gray opened one eye to glare at Natsu. "Natsu," he said dangerously. "It is _two o'clock in the morning_. WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"LOOK WHAT JUST SHOWED UP ON THE DOORSTEP!"

That got Gray's attention, and he opened his other eye and sat up, blinking away his sleepiness. Natsu brandished something in Gray's face, and he had to push the Dragon Slayer's hand back to see what it was. For a second he just looked at it. "It's an egg," he deadpanned, looking annoyed. "You had to wake me up at two in the morning because someone left an _egg_ on our doorstep?"

Natsu shook his head furiously, his eyes bright. "No, no, you don't understand! This is our baby, Gray!"

Now Gray was confused. "Um, what?"

"This is how dragons have babies. They get eggs delivered to them. That's what Igneel told me. This is our egg!"

For a while Gray just stared at Natsu. "You- I- What-" He trailed off and scratched his eyebrow. Natsu looked so hopeful and happy, and Gray didn't want to ruin his boyfriend's good mood. But he couldn't just pretend the egg was actually going to become a baby, could he? Seeing Natsu's cheerful expression as he crawled into bed beside Gray and tucked the egg in between them answered his question, and Gray sighed and closed his eyes, wrapping his arm around Natsu, the egg snug between them.

The next morning was a hectic one. Natsu got up extra early - which was unusual for him - and made breakfast. Gray would've complained about being woken up early if it weren't for how adorable Natsu looked. He was humming to himself, a goofy smile stuck on his face, looking like he was the happiest person in the world. It warmed Gray's heart, and he decided then once and for all that he would go along with Natsu's egg theory, if only to see his boyfriend look that happy for a little longer.

So they took care of the egg. After a few months of Natsu constantly being around it - "keeping it warm" in his words - Gray was starting to get used to it.

But then.

One morning they were going through their usual morning routine - breakfast, shower, morning run, maybe a few more minutes of sleep. In the middle of stretching after their run, Natsu's eyes sharpened, his pupils contracting into thin slits. "It's time," he said, and Gray could only follow helplessly behind him as Natsu ran for the bedroom, where the egg was resting in the center of the bed.

"What, Natsu, time for wh-" Gray stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening in disbelief. The freckled shell of the egg was cracked, and seemed to be being pushed on from the inside. Natsu rushed forwards and sat on the edge of the bed, and after a moment, Gray joined him, his mouth still open in surprise. It took several minutes before a small pale hand broke through the shell of the egg.

After that everything seemed to go quickly. The shell cracked entirely in half, and fell away to reveal a baby. Gray was utterly speechless. It was a real, living, _breathing_ baby, that had hatched from _an egg_. And the miraculous, amazing thing was this: it looked exactly like them. The baby had tufts of pink hair just beginning to sprout from its head, and when it opened its eyes to look at them, they were a beautiful navy blue.

"Look, Gray," Natsu said, picking up the newborn and turning to look at Gray, giving him a closed-eyed smile, bursting with happiness. "It's our son."

And so it was. It took Gray a while to get used to the fact that their baby had hatched from an egg, but he didn't mind all that much, considering he now had something that he and Natsu had somehow created, together. But that wasn't the end of it, as Natsu told him. Dragons usually had four to six babies in a clutch.

"So you're saying there will be _more_?!" Gray exclaimed, mouth open wide in shock. Natsu chuckled and scratched his eyebrow sheepishly. "Um, only three or four..."

It turned out to be three. First there was another boy, who had Gray's dark hair and pale skin, Natsu's olive eyes. Then there was a girl, who came with the last snow of winter, and had Gray's eyes and hair. The last one was Gray's favorite. She came at the beginning of spring, right when the cherry blossoms were at their most beautiful. She was the spitting image of Natsu, from her tan skin to her spiky pink hair and olive green, draconic eyes.

They were each a treasure, and Gray found himself happier than he had ever been before, with his four beautiful children and his mate by his side.


	20. Day 20

Day twenty of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Scared'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World.

 **Theme:** Scared.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"You idiot!" Gray roared as soon as he walked into the infirmary. Well, more like _stormed_ in. He was so mad he could barely see straight as he stood and glared at Natsu. The Dragon Slayer averted his eyes, gulping. "I'm sor-"

"Don't you dare apologize!" Gray's voice cracked on the last word, and his sank down in the chair by Natsu's bedside, resting his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

"Gray-" Natsu started, and Gray fell forward, leaning his head against Natsu's chest and hugging the Dragon Slayer.

"I was so scared," he whispered. "Do you know how scared I am of losing you?"

Tears fell from the corners of Natsu's eyes. "I'm sorry," he said again, wrapping his arms around Gray. "I won't do it again."

Gray looked up at Natsu, straightening to grasp the sides of Natsu's face. "Just please be more careful. Everyone was worried sick about you."

Natsu wiped his tears away and cracked a smile. "By everyone you mean mostly you?" he teased, trying to cheer up the Ice Mage. Gray rolled his eyes, but a small smile graced his face. "Shut up," he said, crawling into bed beside Natsu and wrapping his arms around him. "Idiotic flame brain."

"Stupid ice block," Natsu replied with a smile, closing his eyes and snuggling up next to his mate.


	21. Day 21

Day twenty-one of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Prank war'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Prank war.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Gray woke on a cool September morning to find his right hand glued to his chest. "Natsu..." he said dangerously, glaring over at his boyfriend, "what the _hell_ did you do?"

Natsu was looking inconspicuous lying next to Gray on the bed, his pink hair messy and his clothes in disarray from tossing about in his sleep. "What?" he asked innocently, his olive eyes sparkling like a child's.

Gray glared at him as he attempted to sit up using his one good arm. "I _know_ it was you that did this! You better fix me!" He attempted to pull his hand away from his chest, but his efforts were all wasted. His palm was glues solidly to his skin. "Natsu, I swear, if I'm stuck like this..." he trailed off dangerously, sending a threatening glower Natsu's way.

The Dragon Slayer held up his hands but couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "Okay, okay," he said, sliding off the bed. "I'll go get the anti-stick stuff they gave me."

"So it _was_ you! I'm going to skin you when I'm unstuck!" Gray glared after him as Natsu fled the room, feeling irritated and tired. Usually he just ignored Natsu's childish pranks, but today he somehow felt like he needed to retaliate. A slow, mischievous smirk spread across Gray's face, and he started thinking up different ways for retribution as Natsu rummaged around in their bathroom.

With an "Aha!" and a loud crash, Natsu came out of the bathroom brandishing a small tube of blue paste. "Lay back," he ordered, and Gray obliged, huffing in irritation as the strange-smelling stuff was rubbed on his chest where his palm met his skin. Finally, he jerked his hand free, sighing in relief as his muscles were finally stretched out. He looked at his chest to see a red hand-print there, and he shot Natsu another dirty look. The Dragon Slayer only grinned and ducked into the bathroom to take a shower.

Gray got up a few minutes later and rummaged around angrily in the closet for a fresh pair of clothes, plotting his plan of revenge all the while. _I could switch his shampoo with hair dye... No, that's much too childish. Well, this_ is _Natsu I'm up against, though... Nothing's too childish for_ him _._

So Gray nodded to himself. As soon as Natsu was out of the shower, Gray took one himself. When he was finished, he found Natsu in the living room, curled up on the couch with his legs hanging over the armrest, attempting to read a book. Gray had to fight down the instinct to go over and kiss him with how adorable he looked, and calmly told Natsu he would be back in a while, because he was going into town, and added did Natsu want anything, just to keep appearances up.

"No," Natsu said, glancing over the back of the couch. "Just get home soon," he said with a smile. Gray had to clamp down the blush on his face as he stormed out the door. _Snap out of it! Don't let his adorableness fool you! He's a dragon; he's devious..._

* * *

In town Gray went to a gag shop, making sure no one was around from the guild to spy on him and report back to Natsu. The coast was clear, and Gray entered the shop, jumping a little as the bell above the door let out a loud chime. The shop was relatively empty, save for two kids and the shop keeper. Gray looked at the signs on the shelves, following them to the aisle labeled 'Dyes'.

"Black, blue, purple, green, pink, yellow, white..." Gray read off to himself, a finger resting on his chin as he pondered which one would work best. Yellow, orange, and white were too light to use on Natsu's sakura hair, and pink was obviously out. Gray doubted Natsu would mind purple or red hair, so that left green, blue, and black.

"He _does_ hate the color black, but would he really care all that much...?" Gray pondered aloud, frowning as he fingered the bottle. "I think so," he decided, snatching up the bottle and glancing around once more to make sure he wasn't being watched. As he made his way towards the checkout, a small vial caught his eye. Gray stopped and picked it up, holding the tag between his fingers to read it. A slow smile spread across his face, and his hand tightened around the vial as he made his way towards the counter.

* * *

Gray tried not to watch as Natsu grabbed a towel and headed into the bathroom the next morning, but as soon as the door shut behind the Dragon Slayer, Gray raced over to the door and pressed his ear against it. As soon as the water turned on, Gray snickered and pushed open the door a crack, watching through the curtain as Natsu's shadow bent down to retrieve his shampoo bottle.

Satisfied that Natsu didn't suspect a thing, Gray eased the door closed again and crept back to the bed, flopping down on the mattress and covering himself with the blankets. About ten minutes later, a piercing howl made Gray smirk, and Natsu threw open the door and ran over to Gray, a towel loosely wrapped around his waist and his hands tangled in his now ebony hair. "Gray, I think my shampoo is defective! LOOK WHAT IT DID TO ME!"

Gray couldn't keep it in anymore after that, and burst into a hysterical fit of giggles. Natsu looked on in confusion, until it slowly seemed to dawn on him. " _You_!" he shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Gray with a glare. " _You_ did this to my hair!"

Gray couldn't even stop his laughing to nod, and snorted, pounding his fist against the mattress in distress. Natsu was glaring at him, his hands clenched into fists against his sides. "Oh, this isn't over," he said, slowly backing towards the bathroom. "I'll get you, snow cone. Just wait."

* * *

The next day was fairly normal, save for all the attention Natsu got from having black hair. Laxus snorted and continued listening to his music, Evergreen and Bixlow burst into laughter, Lucy clamped a hand to her mouth to keep from giggling like a hyena, Erza simply told him he looked silly, and Loke burst into hysterical fits of laughter - much like Gray had the day before - and ended up being punched through the left wall of the guild by a pissed off Natsu.

Gray thought back to what Natsu had said the day before. _Oh, this isn't over._ _I'll get you, snow cone. Just wait._ He couldn't say he was particularly worried, though. It was an empty threat. Natsu was the forgiving, forgetful type, so he'd probably forget what Gray had done within a few hours of being at the guild.

But that's not what happened. All day Natsu avoided Gray, and Gray found the Dragon Slayer watching him several times when he thought Gray wasn't looking. It was unnerving, to say the least, and Gray was beginning to worry slightly. At the end of the day, they started towards home, Natsu unusually silent the whole way.

That night Gray felt Natsu's eyes boring into his back as he tried to sleep, and he struggled to relax, until exhaustion finally knocked him out.

* * *

The first thing Gray felt when he woke up was something wet on his back. At first he thought it was just his shirt, clammy from sweat. But when he opened his eyes, Gray saw the sun above him. He immediately jerked, and was dunked underwater from the effort. Gasping and spluttering, he clawed his way to the surface to find himself in the middle of Magnolia Lake in his boxers.

Thankfully, no one was around, and Gray managed to find a back street to take home, shivering. Sure, he was an Ice Mage, but it was nearing October, and he was soaking wet in nothing but his boxers, a chill wind sweeping through the streets of Magnolia. _I'm going to kill Natsu_ , Gray thought darkly, sneezing into the crook of his arm. _How did he even get me into the lake without waking me up?!_

At their front door, Gray was so angry he kicked it in to see Natsu making tea in the kitchen like it was any other normal day. He stormed up to him and the Dragon Slayer barely had time to step away from the teapot on the stove before Gray slammed him back against the counter, caging him in with his arms. "Natsu," he growled. "I'm going to _kill you_."

"Whoa, Gray, I'm sorry, okay?" Natsu said with a nervous smile, holding up his hands helplessly. "Murder is illegal, so you can't kill me!" he added quickly when Gray took another threatening step forward, pressing the smaller boy closer to the counter. "No, but I sure can beat the hell out of you!"

Natsu held up his arms again as Gray raised a fist. "C'mon, it was just a prank! You dyed my hair, remember! So we're even!"

Gray growled low in his throat and took a step back. "This isn't over." Ignoring his boyfriend's relieved sigh, Gray stomped towards their room, already plotting out a revenge scheme.

In the morning Gray woke early and went to town before Natsu woke up, headed for the gag shop again. He had to step up his game. Maybe some fake blood, and a fake retractable knife, and he could scare the shit out of his boyfriend.

It took Gray a while to find everything he wanted in the shop, and by the time he headed home, it was nearing ten o'clock already. _Natsu's probably worried_ , Gray said, speeding up a bit. _But wait_ , he argued with himself, stopping in the middle of the street. _We're fighting. I might as well scare him a bit. He deserves it._ Gray smirked and turned, deciding to take the long way home through a series of connecting back streets and alleyways.

The air was colder in these uninhabited streets, and Gray sneezed and wrapped his arms around himself, cursing Natsu for dumping him in that cold lake and giving him this stupid cold. Turning a corner, Gray sneezed again, closing his eyes from the force of it. It was only a second, but in that second, someone grabbed Gray's bag and sunk a knife into his stomach.

Letting out a half growl, half screech of surprise and pain, Gray whipped around to see the thief racing off with the bag. "You," he called angrily, starting to take a step forward to run after them. "Give... that... back..." Gray had to stop as blood flowed from his side, flooding through his fingers to drop onto the ground. Oh no, Gray thought weakly, trying to stay upright as the world tilted around him. The wound is worse than I thought... I need to get home. With that thought in his head, Gray turned and staggered down the street towards home, using the wall for support as his vision grew dark and blurry, and his breathing labored.

When he reached home, he fumbled with the handle, his brain taking a while to tell his hands what to do. Finally, he wrenched it open and stumbled inside. Natsu was resting on the couch, reading an issue of Sorcerer Weekly. He rolled his eyes as Gray stumbled in, clutching his wound tightly, but doing little to staunch the flow of blood. "I'm not stupid, Gray," he said indignantly. "Did you really think I'd fall for that?"

"Nat...su..." Gray struggled to say, stumbling forward. "This... is... serious. Call... Wen...dy." On that word, he collapsed. The last thing Gray heard was Natsu shouting his name, and he felt a single tear drop onto his cheek before he blacked out.

When Gray awoke, his whole body ached like he had been hit by a train. "He has to be okay," Gray heard, and his heart ached realizing it was Natsu's voice. "He's going to be okay, he's going to be okay, he _has_ to be okay..." The pain and fear in Natsu's voice made Gray's heart break, and he struggled to open his eyes. However, they felt like they were weighed down with lead. But maybe he could manage a few words, just to reassure Natsu and stop his pain...? "Nat...su," Gray said, his voice dry and weak.

"Gray! Oh my God, Gray! How are you feeling? Do you want anything?! God, I am so sorry! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in such bad shape..." That last remark was quieter than his other words, and tinged with guilt and anger, and Gray wanted to slap Natsu for saying such things, but all he could do was whisper, "It... wasn't your... fault."

A hand closed tightly around Gray's, and it was warm and immediately set him at ease. "I'm sorry for... everything," Natsu murmured, his hand tightening around Gray's. "I was an idiot..."

"No," Gray whispered, managing to crack a weak grin. "It was... a lot of... fun, Natsu. I had... fun."

For a while Natsu was silent. "I had fun, too. But let's not do it again for a while, deal?"

"Deal," Gray agreed readily. Natsu laughed, and at once Gray was overcome with want to see his Dragon Slayer's face. With will power he never knew he had, Gray tore his eyes open and blinked up at Natsu, whose olive eyes shone. He smiled, and silent tears began streaming down Natsu's face. Gray wiped them away with his thumbs, tugging Natsu's mouth to his.

"I love you, Natsu."

"I love you, Gray."


	22. Day 22

Day twenty two of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Jealousy'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Jealousy.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

It was a warm Saturday afternoon in May, and Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, and a few other couples from the guild were heading for a well-known club in downtown Magnolia. It was called Club Enigma, and had opened up about two months earlier, but was quickly becoming one of Magnolia's nighttime hotpots. This was Gray and Natsu's first time, but Lucy and Erza had been out there several times, and said it was a nice place.

The closer they got to the club, the louder the music got, shaking the cobbles under their feet. Approaching the club, Gray was struck by how beautiful it was. Fairy lights were strung up along the roof, and from inside, flashing multicolored Lacrima crystals rested in clumps on the ceiling, filling the room with flashes of rainbow-colored light that left colorful shadows on the street outside.

The large group of Mages entered the club and many of them split up, some going to the bar and others to the dance floor. Lucy and Erza went to the dance floor, and Gray and Natsu headed for the bar, deciding to have a few drinks before heading out to dance themselves. They sat down at the bar and ordered two drinks. Gray observed the atmosphere calmly while he nursed his drink, Natsu seeming nervous beside him.

After Gray had finished his first drink and was about to order another one, he heard a girly screech and a distinctly familiar voice boom, "Keep your hands off my girlfriend!" Gray sweat-dropped and Natsu gulped. "I'll be right back," Gray said with an exasperated sigh. "Some guy provoked Erza again. You know how she gets when guys flirt with Lucy. You stay here." Gray cut his way across the dance floor to where Erza was holding the poor victim by the collar of his shirt, her sword pressed against his throat and her eyes brimming with anger.

Gray rested a hand on Erza's shoulder, trying to be soothing as he said, "It's alright, Erza. He didn't mean any harm, did you?" Gray directed at the guy, giving him a look that said to agree. The poor man nodded, gulping as Erza finally released him, allowing him to skitter away, soon disappearing in the thick crowd. She took a deep breath as Lucy's hand rested on her arm, and she let her sword disappear.

"Thanks for that," Lucy said with a soft smile, hugging Erza around the middle. Gray rolled his eyes and turned to head back to the bar, leaving them alone. The crowd was even thicker than when they had arrived, and Gray squinted through the gyrating bodies and flashing lights, searching for the familiar flash of sakura hair that would tell him where the bar was. Finally he spotted it and started forwards, gently edging his way through the masses of people.

A few feet from the bar Gray paused, sensing that something was wrong. His eyes probed through the rest of the people and landed on Natsu. The Dragon Slayer was blushing and hunkering down low on his bar stool, three guys surrounding him. Gray narrowed his eyes, instantly wary. If they were there to pick a fight... But then one of the men snaked an arm around Natsu's waist, and Gray felt his fists clench as a fierce, burning feeling built up in the pit of his stomach. Was it anger? No; that was even less viscous than whatever this was.

As Natsu shied away from the touch, his eyes flicking to the left and right frantically, as if searching for a miracle, Gray realized what it was. _Jealousy_. Jealousy at them touching his mate; _his_ , and _only_ his. Gray started shoving his way through the crowd, ignoring the insults, threats, and dirty looks he got, his eyes focused on Natsu. When Natsu caught sight of him, his eyes lit up in relief, and he raised a hand to wave frantically. The men's eyes followed Natsu's focus, and they narrowed their eyes at Gray.

Gray was upon them within seconds, and he roughly elbowed one of the men aside, snaking a protective arm around Natsu. "Thank Mavis I found you," he said, getting a sudden burst of inspiration. "I've been looking all over for you... love!" He struggled to get the words out, not one to typically show so much emotion in public. Ignoring the blush that alighted his face and the stares of the men, Gray bent forward and kissed Natsu passionately, grabbing the ends of his scarf and tilting his head for emphasis.

After a while of being ignored, the men grumbled and shuffled away, and Gray finally broke away for air, leaving a gasping, floundering Natsu, whose face had turned as red as Erza's hair. "Well, that worked better than expected," Gray hummed, pleased with himself as he reclaimed his seat next to Natsu.

"Gray, you- I- What- Uh-" Natsu couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence, and his face was still tomato red.

Gray raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk crossing his lips at how flustered his boyfriend was. "Why did you kiss me like that?" Natsu eventually managed to ask, still looking incredibly embarrassed.

"Because," Gray said, taking a sip of his drink and suddenly becoming serious. "I didn't like them... near you. _Touching_ you. It made me very... angry. Jealous. I thought I might lose control and kill all three of them." His hand tightened dangerously around his glass, and Gray struggled to clamp down his anger. A warm hand rested on top of the one Gray strangled the glass with, and as Natsu massaged smooth circles against his hand with his thumb, Gray slowly let it relax.

"Thanks for rescuing me," Natsu said with a smile that made Gray's heart flutter.

"No problem," Gray replied with a smile. "Just don't let anyone else too close to you, got that, flame brain?"

Natsu blushed and nodded. "I won't."

"Good, now let's go. I desire to dance with my idiotic boyfriend."


	23. Day 23

Day twenty three of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Going swimming'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Going swimming.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Natsu, do you really need all that?" Gray asked in an exasperated tone, his hand on his hip as he watched his boyfriend.

Natsu nodded as he finally managed to zip the overflowing bag closed with a grunt. "Of course."

Gray rolled his eyes. "We're only going to this resort for three days, and I think you've packed more than Erza."

"Well we'll see when we meet her and Lucy at the train station, won't we?" Natsu asked indignantly, huffing as he struggled to lift the heavy bag and secure it over his shoulders.

So they went to the station to meet their friends, Gray snickering the whole way about how stupid Natsu looked hunched over with his huge bag. They were on their way to a fancy resort in Crocus for three days, because Erza and Lucy had gotten tickets as a reward for their last job, but it was a trip for four, so they'd decided to invite Gray and Natsu along.

"It's about time," Erza said, her arms crossed. "We've been waiting for fifteen minutes."

"Sorry," Gray said, sweat-dropping. "This idiot decided to take our whole house with him."

"I see nothing wrong with his amount of items," Erza said, and now Lucy sweat-dropped as well. Natsu shot Gray a smug look. "But come," Erza said. "We must be on our way."

They boarded the train, and Gray took great satisfaction in the fact that Natsu's head crashed in his lap the moment they started moving.

* * *

"Natsu, hit it harder!"

"I'm _trying_! It's all slippery!"

"Do you even realize how you're phrasing that?" Lucy asked, hiding a smile.

The four were on the beach, attempting to play volleyball. It was Erza and Lucy versus Gray and Natsu, and the girls were winning. Natsu, despite what you'd think, was _terrible_ at the game, and he missed the ball almost every time, usually either falling flat on his face in the sand, or flat on his ass, and the ball would roll into the ocean and become, as Natsu had said, very slippery.

With a great war cry, Natsu attempted to spike the ball over the net. He hit it, and... it was sent straight into the net. Natsu crouched on the sand against the volleyball net pole and rocked back and forth, looking pitiful as Gray tried to console him.

"Let's just go swim. I can't take any more of this demon sport..." Natsu said with a shudder.

Gray agreed, and they left Erza and Lucy at the volleyball pit, where they split into a two and started playing against each other. Natsu cheered up quickly after he had stepped foot in the ocean, and he ran about like a little kid, kicking up water and sand. He leaned over every few feet and paused to admire a shell or crab, and would often point and look at Gray like, _How awesome is this thing?_ and make Gray chuckle.

He had to admit, seeing the Dragon Slayer acting so childlike and adorable was almost worth the unbearable hot day. Natsu tugged Gray towards the water, and proceeded to splash him in the face. While the Dragon Slayer was having a hysterical laughing fit, Gray narrowed his eyes and shoved him into an oncoming wave.

"Who's laughing now?" he called to Natsu as the Dragon Slayer tumbled up onto the sand, coughing.

"I'm gonna get you for that, ice block!"

"Come try it, flame brain!" Gray challenged. He proceeded to squeal and jump to the side as Natsu dove past him, arms alight, and started chasing Gray around the beach. Gray had to admit, he was having a good time. He hadn't thought he'd have so much fun at the beach. He'd never been one for swimming, but this was fun.

With a bellowing war cry, Natsu leaped and tackled Gray to the sand, pinning the Ice Mage beneath him. He held up a flaming fist with a grin. "Who's laughing _now_?"

Gray reached up and tugged Natsu down by the scarf, planting a passionate kiss on his lips that left the Dragon Slayer blushing red, his arms slack, allowing Gray to escape. "Still me!" he called as he sprinted away, stopping a few paces away teasingly. "Come on, Natsu. Don't stand there spluttering! I'll give you a five second head start!"

Natsu was up and running after him before the words had completely left Gray's lips, and he screeched and started running, a smile plastered on his face as Natsu chased him around yelling threats.

 _Maybe swimming isn't so bad, after all..._


	24. Day 24

Day twenty four of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Trying to distract them'.

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Trying to distract them.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu looked at Gray, frowning slightly. He - Natsu, that is - was currently sprawled out on the couch, his legs hanging over the arm-rest and his head tilted back to look at his boyfriend, who was cross-legged on the couch next to him, biting his lip and frantically banging the buttons on his game controller, his eyes trained on the TV screen where his violent FPS game was holding court.

Natsu, more of an artist than a gamer, didn't see the appeal, and was starting to get irritated that he couldn't catch his boyfriend's attention.

Turning so his stomach was pressed against the couch, Natsu rested his chin in the palms of his hands and pouted at Gray, who didn't even glance over. "Grraaaayyyy," Natsu whined, crawling forward. Gray lifted his arms and Natsu twisted and wriggled forward so he was on his back again in Gray's lap. Unfortunately, Gray was only willing to do that much, and continued focusing on his game. Natsu sighed.

"Graaaayyy, c'mon. I'm huuuunnngggrrrrryyyyy."

"Grrrraaaaayyy."

" _Graaaaaaaaaaayyyyy_."

No use. Nothing got his attention. Natsu wasn't sure what to do. He stretched his arms up and his legs out, lifting his back slightly and yawning, his shirt riding up an inch or so. Gray glanced down for a split second before focusing back on the game. Natsu peered up at Gray with wide onyx eyes. He reached up a hand and fingered a wisp of Gray's ebony hair. He was awarded by Gray tilting slightly to lean into the touch, but that was all. Natsu trailed his finger down and unbuttoned the first button of Gray's shirt.

"Natsu," Gray sighed finally. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"Concentrate on me."

"After I capture this base, okay?"

"You always say that," Natsu murmured, turning on his side and closing his eyes.

"I do not!" Gray protested, jamming a button extra loudly. It didn't matter; Natsu was already asleep. Gray sighed and continued playing his game. After a few minutes, Natsu sniffled and rolled... right over the side and onto the floor.

"Shit!" Gray cursed, throwing aside his controller. "Natsu!"

The sakura-haired boy was still sleeping soundly, and Gray sighed and tugged a hand through his hair. The red 'Game Over' covering the screen disheartened him from picking up the controller again. He gazed down at Natsu and shook his head, sighing again. "Natsu..."

He gathered up the smaller boy and laid him out on the couch, covering him with a blanket before excusing himself to make dinner. Natsu smiled, his eyes still closed, and whispered, "I win."


	25. Day 25

Day twenty five of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Writing together'.

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Writing together.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu lay sprawled out on the couch, his back against the armrest and his laptop resting on his legs, which were in turn resting on Gray's lap. Gray sat on the other side if the couch, his laptop resting on the armrest beside him. Both of their deadlines were in a week, and they still had sixty thousand more words to write, each.

"Hey," Natsu said suddenly, frowning as he looked across the couch at Gray. "How do you quote movie titles again?"

Gray paused in his furious typing and frowned. "I think... you italicize them."

"Right. Thanks." And Natsu went back to typing again.

A moment later Gray asked, "Which one sounds better; 'The stars were glowing like a million silver fireflies,' or, 'The silver stars were glowing like a million fireflies'?"

"The stars were glowing like a million silver fireflies," Natsu answered immediately.

They went back to typing for a long while, sometimes breaking the silence by asking a question or getting up to get something. Natsu loved days like this, when they were writing together in complete silence. It worked well for both of them, and it was very calming.

It was nearing night when Gray finished his sixty thousand and closed his laptop screen with a contented sigh, stretching his arms above his head. "Finnnaaalllly."

He peered over at Natsu, whose brow was furrowed as he typed. Gray crawled closer and leaned against Natsu's shoulder, glancing down at his screen. "How many words do you have left?" he asked.

"Fifteen thousand," Natsu sighed, running a hand through his already messed hair.

Gray snuggled closer to him and rested his hand on Natsu's back, rubbing calming circles there. "I'll stay with you until you're done. Oh, hey, you need a space there."

"Thanks," Natsu said, adding the space before turning to plant a kiss on Gray's lips.

So Natsu finished writing, finally, and by then Natsu was so tired, Gray had to scoop the smaller boy up and carry him to bed, where they crashed and slept soundly through the rest of the night.


	26. Day 26

Day twenty six of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Valentine's Day'.

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Valentine's Day.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"Lucy! Erza! Help me!"

Erza immediately drew her sword, glancing behind Natsu for signs of attackers as she opened her front door for the frantic Dragon Slayer.

"What is the problem, Natsu? I am ready for battle."

"No, no, no," he said breathlessly. "You don't understand! Do you know what tomorrow is?!"

"February fourteenth?" Erza asked in confusion, de-equipping her sword.

"Exactly! It's _Valentine's Day_! What am I going to _do_?" With that he collapsed on the floor and hugged his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth and wailing pitifully.

At that moment, Lucy entered the room.

"Um, what's going on?" she asked, raising a thin eyebrow as Natsu wailed into his knees.

"I'm not quite sure myself," Erza said, kneeling beside Natsu to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Natsu, please tell us, why are you distressed?"

"I don't know what to get Gray for Valentine's Day! He just never really shows interest in anything... How am I supposed to shop for someone who doesn't even _drop hints_!?" he trailed off desperately, resting his forehead on his knees again.

"Well, have you tried asking him?"

"I can't do that..."

"Yes, I suppose it would ruin the whole concept. So what can we do?" Erza pondered, tapping a finger to her lips in thought.

"Maybe you could go with the cliche flowers and chocolates?" Lucy suggested.

"No," Natsu said, sniffling. "I don't think Gray likes chocolate. Or flowers."

"Hmmm. This is a predicament. Well, why don't Lucy and I follow Gray for the day and see if he shows interest in anything?"

"Would you really do that for me?! Thank you!" Natsu hugged them both tightly, causing the Requip and Celestial Spirit Mage to chuckle.

"No problem," Lucy said, helping him up. "Now go home."

Natsu turned with a smile and ran back home, while Lucy and Erza gathered what they needed to follow Gray around that day.

* * *

"He's walked by, like, _twelve_ shops, and hasn't even stopped to _look in the windows_ ," Lucy complained, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "Natsu was right; he really _doesn't_ show interest in anything."

"Yes," Erza agreed. "It is rather displeasing."

Gray stuck his hands in his pockets and walked across the street, and Lucy and Erza followed behind. Gray was walking by a shop when he suddenly stopped. "FINALLY!" Lucy said in relief, and they watched as Gray placed his hands on the glass and peered through the window.

Peering closer, Lucy realized what he was looking at an gasped. "No way! No way no way no way! That's what he wants? Natsu will _never_ believe this..."

Erza nodded in agreement as Lucy covered her mouth to stifle the mad giggles that wanted to slip through. "Let's go tell Natsu what we've discovered."

* * *

"You guys are messing with me," Natsu said, glaring at them suspiciously.

"No, we're not!" Lucy insisted. "I swear to Mavis it's the truth!"

Natsu still looked distrustful. "Okay... But if I find out you guys are lying..."

"We're not!" Lucy said with a laugh, pushing him towards the door. "Now go get Gray the best present ever!"

* * *

Later that night, Gray opened the door to his and Natsu's house with a sigh. The Dragon Slayer had been gone for the past few hours, and Gray had been trying to find him all day so he could deliver his present as planned. Although, Natsu needed to be _home_ for it, of course...

Closing the door behind himself, Gray slipped off his shoes and coat, and walked towards the living room. His shirt got dumped along the way, but Gray took no notice as he flipped on the light.

"N-Natsu, what..." Gray's eyes were wide as he saw his boyfriend sitting in a seductive pose on the couch, looking slightly awkward, but nonetheless trying his best. Gray stifled a laugh. "Um, what are you doing?"

Natsu shifted uncomfortably. "Well, um, don't get mad, but- I had no idea what to get you, so I had Erza and Lucy follow you around, and they said this is what you wanted..."

Gray couldn't stifle his laughter anymore, and bent over, resting his hands on his knees. "I don't know what they thought I was looking at, but I was just adjusting my necklace in the reflection of glass! This is priceless..."

Natsu fidgeted and blushed a deep red. "Oh..."

Gray managed to sober up and looked at Natsu curiously. "What did they tell you to do?"

"Uh..." He fidgeted some more. "Well... They told me to wear this." He slipped off his black and gold jacket to reveal that he wore only tight black jeans and suspenders over his bare chest underneath. That sent Gray into another flurry of laughter, and Natsu shifted uncomfortably.

Gray finally managed to straighten and Natsu jumped when he realized his navy eyes were glittering, a predatory grin on his face. He walked closer until he was almost sitting on top of Natsu. "Why don't you let me give you my present now?" Gray purred, sliding his hands along Natsu's chest.

Natsu gulped. He had a feeling he wouldn't be forgetting this Valentine's Day for a while...


	27. Day 27

Day twenty seven of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Losing them'. :'( (Watch out captain! Angst dead ahead!)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Losing them.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu had never felt so helpless. He was a strong wizard. He knew that. But what did it matter now? It couldn't do anything to help him in this situation. For the life of him, he couldn't think of a scenario where they would get out of this alive. Not one. Usually they just fought and fought and refused to give up, and it always somehow worked out in the end, but not this time.

This time they were going to die.

Natsu clung to Gray's hand tightly, but he could tell the Ice Mage was slipping, and if Natsu didn't let go, they'd both go over. Natsu knew what he had to do. There wasn't a situation where they both could live through this, but if Natsu had the choice to let Gray live, well... Natsu loosened his grip on Gray's wrist, letting his fingers go slack.

"Natsu, your hand is slipping! Hold on!" Gray yelled from above, and he looked down, their eyes meeting for a second. Natsu gave him a sad smile, and realization dawned on Gray's face. "Don't you dare let go of my hand, Natsu Dragneel! Don't you dare! I'll never forgive you!"

Natsu only grinned. "Don't worry, ice princess. Dragons are invincible." And he let go.

"NATSU!" Gray dove over the edge without thinking, and he had so much momentum that he managed to catch up with the falling Natsu, wrapping his arms around him. "Why did you come after me?!" Natsu yelled into Gray's chest, peering up at him with panicked eyes.

Gray looked down at him and grinned. "If we die, we die together!"

"That's not how it's supposed to work, stripper! God, you couldn't even let me have a heroic death, could you?!"

Gray hugged Natsu to his chest. "Shut up and let me die in peace."

"Not a chance."

Gray wrapped his arms tightly around Natsu, protecting the smaller boy, and a second later they plunged into the water.

* * *

Natsu woke coughing on his side, struggling to take in air. He shakily sat up, looking around to find that he was on a rocky beach, halfway in the water. Natsu's eyes suddenly widened, and he looked around frantically for Gray. When his eyes found him, Natsu felt his heart drop into his stomach. He crawled over to the still Ice Mage and rested a hand against his cool skin. "Gray?" he whispered, his voice cracking with fear.

There was no answer, and Natsu leaned his head against Gray's chest, listening for a heart beat. There was none. "No, no, no, no," Natsu said to himself over and over again, placing his hands on Gray's chest and pushing down. He proceeded to give the Ice Mage CPR, praying and praying and praying to any god that would listen for Gray to be okay.

But the gods weren't listening that day. Gray remained still and unresponsive, and Natsu threw himself down on the Ice Mage's chest, sobbing into his wet T-shirt. "Why didn't you just stay on the cliff?" he whispered, taking deep, shuddering breaths. "Idiot... snow cone..."

* * *

Gray's funeral was the following week, but Natsu couldn't bring himself to attend, to watch them throw dirt over his once living, _breathing_ boyfriend. And thinking of everything that he'd lost would only make it worse. All the smiles he would never get to see again; the raven locks he would never be able to run his fingers through; the morning kisses he would never feel again. The pain was unbearable, like a hot poker pressing on his insides.

His Ice Mage, his mate, was gone. Natsu would never hear his laugh again; never be told 'I love you' in that offhand way; never be teased or called flame brain; never have someone to fight with, laugh with, and cry with. A single tear fell from Natsu's chin and landed on the floor, and it opened the floodgates to more as Natsu curled up in their bed, resting his nose on the spot where Gray used to sleep to inhale the minty, bitter green scent of his mate, which still lingered there.

The ghost of a hand brushed against Natsu's hair, and he could swear he heard the words 'I love you' whispered in his ear before the presence was gone, and Natsu was left all alone again.


	28. Day 28

Day twenty eight of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Warming each other up'. (A little fluff to make up for that last chapter ;D)

* * *

 **Type:** Regular FT World

 **Theme:** Warming each other up.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Gray sneezed, wrapping his arms around himself and glaring at the floor miserably. He, Gray Fullbuster, Ice Mage Extraordinaire, had gotten a _cold_. And it was all Natsu's fault. That stupid flame brain had made Gray go on a job traipsing through the snowy mountains, and they had ended up snowed into a cave for three days. Gray's shirt had, of course, mysteriously disappeared somewhere on their way up the mountain, so he had been stuck shirtless in a freezing cold cave for three full days and nights. Just his luck.

When they had gotten back, Natsu had apologized profusely, but Gray was having none of it. He'd never really been sick before, and a cold was something he'd never thought he'd have. But, thanks to the idiotic Dragon Slayer, he now got to cross 'Be miserably sick' off his bucket-list.

Gray sneezed again and his frown deepened. "Idiotic cold. Idiotic Natsu. Idiotic snowy mountains."

The door creaked open, and Gray looked up with an unfriendly glower to see Natsu closing the door. He gave a nervous smile when he saw Gray glaring at him, and asked, "Are you cold?"

"Yes, thanks to _you_ ," Gray reminded him, sneezing again.

Natsu smiled, his gaze suddenly teasing. Natsu was immediately nervous, and watched Natsu warily as he circled around behind Gray and wrapped his arms around the Ice Mage's neck. Shivers went down Gray's spine as Natsu whispered in his ear, "Why don't I warm you up?"

Gray shivered as Natsu circled around again and tugged Gray to his feet.

 _Maybe_ he could forgive Natsu. _Maybe_...


	29. Day 29

Day twenty nine of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'High school'.

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** High school.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

Natsu rested his hands in his pockets and glanced around the school yard, bored. It was his first day of junior year, and he was already ready for the year to be over. It was a hot day, and Natsu kind of felt like taking his leather jacket off, but he had to retain his bad-boy image.

Walking towards the entrance to the school, Natsu glanced to the left briefly, and when he looked back, his eyes caught a flash of black. It was followed by a yell, and Natsu looked to see a tall raven-haired boy being slammed back against a wall. As soon as their eyes met, Natsu felt his heart skip a beat. The pained look in the boy's eyes, the black glasses that framed his navy eyes, and his thick locks of raven hair; all of it made Natsu feel... tingly.

"Hey!" he'd yelled before he knew what he was doing. He slammed his fist into the wall directly beside the nerd's head, shooting a fierce glare back at the boys who had shoved him against the wall, who flinched back. "This is my personal nerd. Any of you touch him again, and I'll see to it that you never _walk_ again, we clear?"

The boys quickly nodded and scurried off, shooting fearful glances Natsu's way. Natsu smirked in satisfaction and turned narrowed olive eyes the boy's way. "You're welcome," he said to the dumbstruck teen. He turned and stuck his hands in his pockets, starting to walk away. "U-uh, t-thanks!" the boy finally called, causing Natsu to smirk slightly. "I- My name is- Uh, I'm Gray! Gray Fullbuster!"

Natsu spun slightly on his heel to give Gray a smirk. "Well, Gray Fullbuster, I'm Natsu Dragneel. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other very soon."

* * *

For the next few weeks, Natsu teased Gray constantly. Now that he had staked his claim, the boy was left alone, and that paved Natsu's way to mess with him a little. Gray was getting sicker and sicker of it every day, until finally he snapped.

It was after school and Gray was attempting to gather his bags, but Natsu kept flicking the back of his head. Eventually he just couldn't handle it anymore, and he spun and gripped Natsu by the front of his shirt, pressing his face up close to Natsu's and yelling, "What the hell is your problem?!"

Natsu smirked. "Whoa, settle down there, princess."

Gray's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Seriously. Why do you insist on picking on me twenty-four-seven? Why _me_?!"

Natsu smirked and leaned his own head forward so their noses were almost touching, his eyes dancing mischievously. "Dunno. Maybe I just find you... interesting."

Gray snorted. " _Interesting_?"

Natsu shrugged and pulled back, sticking his hands in his pockets. "And maybe a little cute."

"C-cute?" Gray spluttered as Natsu started to walk away. He grabbed his sleeve and spun the other boy around, demanding, "Cute?!"

Natsu turned with a smirk on his lips. "Yes, cute. Got a problem with that?"

Gray slapped him, and Natsu blinked in stunned surprise. "First you stop people from kicking the shit out of me, then you pick on me for a few weeks, and now you call me _cute_?! Are you bipolar or something?!"

Natsu stared at him for a moment. Then he began laughing. Gray just glared at him, stepping closer and grabbing the front of his shirt again. "You're so- Nghh!" Gray's words were broken off as Natsu kissed him, and, surprised, his hands fell to his sides. After a second of being dumbfounded, Gray felt himself responding to the kiss by wrapping his arms around Natsu's neck, while Natsu's arms encircled Gray's waist.

There was a sudden sound at the end of the corridor, like a door opening, and the boys broke apart. "Shit," Natsu cursed breathlessly. Gray watched, dazed, as Natsu picked up both his and Gray's bags and towed him towards the exit of the school. "Pick up your feet, princess!"

They ran out into the courtyard and past the school gates until they were panting on the sidewalk. When they had caught their breath, the two straightened and looked at each other for several seconds. Natsu grinned, and Gray shook his head. "Well then..." Gray said. "Um... I don't really know what to do from here."

Natsu smirked and handed Gray his bag. "Don't worry, princess, I got your back."

"So... What do we do now?" Gray asked sheepishly.

"This," Natsu said, and they were kissing again.

Gray broke away for air a minute later and grinned stupidly. As Natsu smirked at him, Gray felt his heart beat quicken in his chest. This was a new development. But Gray couldn't say he minded.

Who knew a pink-haired idiot could make him feel so happy?


	30. Day 30

Day thirty (the final day!) of my OTP Challenge, and today's theme is 'Alternate universe'!

* * *

 **Type:** Modern RL AU

 **Theme:** Alternate universe.

 **Pairing:** Gratsu

* * *

"I love this one."

"No way," Lucy said, wrinkling her nose. "It's so... _gaudy_."

"Erza _likes_ gaudy!" Natsu protested. " _You_ should know. She's _your_ girlfriend."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "We are _not_ buying that card."

Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Fine. It looks like we need a third party to settle this."

Natsu turned and grabbed the first stranger he saw, tugging him into the card isle. "Excuse me, but could you please tell us your opinion on this card?" Natsu asked, shooting a glare Lucy's way.

The stranger—a boy with pretty navy eyes and wavy raven locks—raised an eyebrow, appraising the card. "Uh... I guess it's okay. But who's it for?" Natsu's smug expression temporarily faltered as Lucy answered, "It's for my girlfriend."

"Ah," the stranger said, nodding. "What's she like?"

"Well," Lucy began, "she's really head-strong, and she _loves_ strawberry cake. She's kind of an independent person, and has a great sense of justice. She's cool and beautiful, warm, and full of passion..." Lucy trailed off, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I get kinda carried away whenever I talk about her."

The stranger smiled. "Well, I think you should go with a more mellow card, then. One that really gets across how you feel about her."

Natsu pouted as Lucy shot him a victorious look and thanked the boy, putting the "gaudy" card back on the shelf and browsing through for another card. The stranger gave Natsu an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. I'm Gray, by the way."

"It's alright," Natsu said in defeat, shaking the hand Gray offered. "I'm Natsu. Thank you for helping us."

Gray smiled. "No problem. Well, I better be going." Natsu waved meekly as Gray turned and starting walking away. Natsu stamped down the thought that Gray was pretty attractive as he turned back to Lucy to help her find another card.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Natsu turned in surprise to see Gray duck back into the isle. He scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Natsu with a smirk. "Call me if you need more help with _greeting cards_ ," he said with a wink before spinning on his heel and walking away.

Natsu blinked down at the number Gray had written, then looked back at Lucy with a shell-shocked expression on his face. Lucy was giggling, and Natsu glared at her as he stuck the number in his pocket. "Baby got _game_ ," Lucy said, giving Natsu a grin. He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Luce."

But he still smiled a little as he started searching through the racks of cards again.


End file.
